I just want to say thank you to everyone here at the UVAC for all your help, encouragement and love during my fitness journey.  Let me inform you I am a travel nurse who came here to work and I decided I needed to lose weight and get healthy while I was here.  The first day I walked into a circuit training class and looked at what the trainer was writing on the board, I immediately walked out and thought “I can’t do this!” But, the culture here at UVAC is, you can do it!  The trainer came after me and said “You can do this and I will help you!”  I then explained to him that I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus and maybe this was not a good class for me to take.  He looked at me straight in the eye and said, “I can modify any exercise to meet your current fitness level and in time you will have an improved fitness level.”  So with that in mind, I started taking classes at the UVAC.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday I would take circuit training classes then on Tuesday and Thursday I would take the Aqua fitness classes with Kathleen Danforth – as long as my work schedule would allow.

During my first month of coming to the UVAC, I immediately saw I was losing weight and I had more energy and stamina and boy did this light a flame under me.  I then met some women coming out of the gym as I was walking in and they seemed so animated so I asked them what class they were coming from.  It was then I learned about Shed and Shred.  Enter into my life, Erin “high energy” Buck and my fitness journey went from a leisure walk to an all out sprint, once I joined the Shed and Shred group.  Every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 am to 7 am I joined a group of other people walking their own fitness journey lead by our high energy leader, Erin.

During my first Shed and Shred (7/16/19 to 9/5/19) I came in third place – losing about 4.5% of my starting body weight.  I was pleased but not satisfied, so during my second go around with Shed and Shred I decided to kick things up a notch.  I got additional reinforcement by getting help from a couple of trainers, Sarah Booker and Sean Moote.  Sarah is very knowledgeable and really taught to me to focus on my technique.  Sean, well if you know Sean at all, you know he was all about taking my metabolism to the next level – and he did.  The extra training along with me really watching what I ate and drank made the difference.  So at the end of Shed and Shred 9/12/19 to 11/7/19 guess who kicked butt and achieved her goals? – I did! I lost 10.16% of my body weight. And WON first place as the top Shed and Shredder!

Now I would be remiss if I did not take time to say thank you to everyone I take classes with (special shout out to Annie who would have completed her class when she would see me walk into a class and she would stay and take another class with me to encourage me), the staff at the UVAC and the other members who are always telling me “you can do it!” It wasn’t just the classes, the trainers, my classmates, the staff and the other members that helped me achieve my goals but it took all of those components for me to make it. That is what I needed to get to my goals and it may not be what you need but I believe whatever your need is you will find it at the UVAC.  I lost 60 pounds and I still have a month ’till I move on from here so I’m hoping to lose another 10 pounds.  What I lost in weight, I gained in confidence and that was just an unforeseen by-product.  I now know I can do it and I will! Thanks for reading my story now go create your own story.

By Suzanne Collins, visiting nurse